A walk with my Dad

Last weekend I went to see my Dad, and after a cup of tea we went for a little walk. We set off from Cuckney Church and took a footpath up a mound (the remains of a Motte and Bailey), which gave us a lovely view of the church and the meadow by the river.

We then carried on up the bank

and crossed a few fields where there were thousands of ox eye daisies in flower.

 We passed a field where there were several young foals...

 and then saw a beautiful Lodge - gate house to the Welbeck estate.(I'd love to live there!)

The view from the Lodge is a timeless British landscape...

 and the drive to the lodge is a Lime tree avenue - a continuation of the one in Clumber Park, for those of you who know it.The lime trees were in flower and smelled wonderful!

 We finally made our way back through the village of Norton, and back to Cuckney Church.

I do miss living in the countryside, even if I did get quite a lot of nettle rash!
Hope you enjoyed the walk
Thanks for looking!

Clearing out the cobwebs

For the past couple of weeks I haven't had much in the way of fresh air. I've been to Karate, so I've had my exercise, and I've done playground duty, but growing up in the countryside, I don't count inner city playground as fresh air!

Today we went to see my Dad and took him out for a stroll around Bothamsall in North Notts. Although most trees are still bare, apart from the odd catkin, there are definitely signs of spring. The walk took us across the river Maun and the river Meden.

It also took us across some lovely farm land. It is just a shame you can't hear the skylarks, and what a glorious sky they were singing in!

And of course I spotted some rather lovely trees!

This next oak was a particular favourite...

The sunshine and fresh breeze really changed my mood, and I came home feeling refreshed and more in the mood for crafting... especially if it involves tree stamps!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have enjoyed some sunshine today too.

Lovely walks

As it's half term we have enjoyed a couple of walks whilst the weather has been better. Yesterday we returned to the Robin Hood's way near Walesby for a lovely stroll in the afternoon sunshine.

 This photo was taken by Robin Hood's Cave by the river Meden. I was hoping to see the buzzards and a woodpecker again, but it wasn't to be, although there were still lots of Fungi.

We ventured a little further this time and on this lovely stretch of river we saw the unmistakeable blue flash of Kingfishers. I'm no where near a good enough photographer to capture a kingfisher in flight, so you will just have to believe me!
On the way back we spotted this little fella, sunning himself...

I think it's a Common Darter. He was so obliging, photographically and nearly landed on my head a couple of times!

We enjoyed a few more moments and then set off back for the car. As we entered the woodland we heard the unmistakeable soft hooting of a  tawny owl. So no Buzzards or woodpeckers, but owls and kingfishers instead - wonderful!

Today we had a lovely stroll around Shipley Country Park near Heanor, where we fed the ducks and swans,

admired the autumn colours, and marvelled at how laden the yew trees were with berries this year...

No cards to show you until tomorrow I'm afraid as it was too dark to take a photo once we got home. There is another 'creation' Meg and I have been working on, which I will show you tomorrow too. Thanks for looking x